Outlast used in new helicopter passenger suit
Scotland-based service survival clothing and equipment manufacturer, Survival-One, has launched a new helicopter passenger survival suit incorporating technology from Outlast, a heat management and moisture reduction technology provider.
“Survival-One manages a fleet of around 30,000 helicopter passenger survival suits for use by the offshore oil and gas industry,” said Andy Wilson, design and development manager at Survival-One Limited, Aberdeen, UK. “We are experienced in providing survival solutions but we are always interested in innovation. We don’t want to look just for fulfilling specifications. We want to offer ultimate protection for workers without compromising human factors. Our latest development is the new ‘1000 Series’ suit which has now entered service, being worn over the North Sea. We are using Outlast materials to enable offshore workers to benefit from enhanced insulation that regulates the microclimate inside the suit to improve thermal comfort and reduce thermal stress. The elevated thermal insulation worn to address the effects of long term immersion in water (typically less than 10 degrees Celsuis) can cause heat stress to the wearer and utilizing Outlast technology is one means of mitigating against this.
“You can’t fight the sea, but by drawing on design knowledge, experience and the latest enabling technologies you can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of survival mechanism and protective equipment.”
Survival-One makes helicopter survival suits, for hire or outright purchase, for the offshore oil and gas industry. Such suits are worn by passengers and aircrew during helicopter transit to and from offshore oil and gas installations and are designed to provide protection against cold water immersion in the event of the helicopter ditching at the sea. The need for helicopter passenger and aircrew immersion suits has developed with the growth of the offshore oil and gas industry.
In the past, survival suits used in the UK sector of the North Sea used to conform only to the UK CAA Specification 19. The new suit not only complies with the new European standard of the EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency): according to Outlast, it goes beyond the minimum requirements delivering exceptional in-water performance and survivability.
“People want to feel that they have the best protection there is,” said Mr Wilson. “But we also know what it is like to sit on a helicopter on a long flight with a survival suit: You have heat, noise, stress and all the rest of it. So we designed this new suit knowing that the people who wear it can feel confident that they are given the best possible protection whether it is been worn once or a hundred times. Our aim is to make their journey as comfortable as possible.”
The outer shell of the suit is waterproof, breathable and inherently flame retardant, Survival-One claims. The thermal lining uses Outlast PCM technology for heat management.
